vivi lou and i are away for the weekend working on blu, our new accessory boutique. so here is a short video of isla playing yesterday! Enjoy!
So excited to announce!!!!!
my family and i are opening an new boutique!!!!
we will be open on saturday! vivi and i fly out tomorrow to put the finishing touches on the store! soooooo excited! by the end of this summer we will have 3 randoms and 1 blu!
build out is just about finished! and we are ready for merchandise!!!!
stay tuned for more pics!
so blessed!
p.s. click the logo to go to our facebook page and “like” us! please? and thank you! (blu facebook page)
Vivi Lou is 4 months…
You turned 4 months on 5/25/12.
Your weight: 15 lb 3 oz.
Your height: 24.5 in
Your head is: 16 in
At the appointment your doctor said: you looked excellent! Your are super strong and healthy. That you are doing great on breast milk so at your 6 mo appointment we will talk about introducing some other foods. He said he is extremely happy with everything you are doing and told us to look out the next few months are going to be a ton of fun with everything you are going to start doing!
You are now:
-rolling from back to belly (though you hate your belly so you have figured out to stay on your side and not roll all of the way anymore…you stinker)
-when you are on your belly you are pushing up on your arms.
-you love bath time with mommy and a whole bunch of toys.
- you are taking your paci in and out as you want it.
- smiling at everyone.
- love playing with other babies and love playing with toys.
- you try to eat everything that isn’t food.
- you blow raspberries all day long and give yourself a bubbly drool goatee.
-you you coo and are starting a little babbling.
- you are the cutest every morning when you wake up in your crib, you always have a ton of smiles ready to give your momma!
- you love the beach and to be outside.
- and tonight while laying on mommy you sat yourself up for the first time and totally freaked mommy out.
You are a funny goofy happy little girl. Mommy and daddy love watching you grow and achieve new milestones. But could you slow down a little please? It’s going way too fast…
We love you sweet Vivi Lou.
I love bath time with The Vivers. Watching her explore her toys the shapes, sounds, textures, and buoyancy is so amazing. Her curiosity and love of play and exploration is a wonderful blessing. And leaves me in awe of His amazing plan for my family. Isla at almost age three cannot do so many things her 4 month old little sister can. What takes Vivi a millisecond to do, like reach for a toy floating by in the bath, takes her older sister five minutes to coordinate thoughts and muscle movements to do is crazy. The brain is an amazing, amazing creation. Vivi is going to be a little whirlwind of a child. And isla forever our cuddler. And we are so blessed to have both of our beautiful little girls. I feel so appreciative to be a part of, teach, guide, and mother these two very different, yet amazing little girls. Not sure if this makes any sense, but to me it makes perfect sense.
Vivi Lou and PCH2…
i know most of you have been wondering about this topic. as we have not outright addressed it…
well on january 25th 2012 at 5:34 it was deemed by me that Vivi Lou was in fact as perfect as i had been telling everyone! i knew instantly upon seeing her that she didnt have PCH2. i never actually thought to myself does Vivi have it? When she was placed in my arms i didnt search her all over for signs. i never even consciously thought about it. but deep down somewhere in me i knew. but i didnt even think about the PCH2 until later in the night. and then when i did think about it it wasnt for long because i had already figured it out.
Vivi came out looking around, trying to hold her head, eating her fingers, sucking a pacifier, she took to the boob good, she had no stiffness, and so many other things that told us she was fine.
Tim only having been around isla as a baby and no other babies to compare vivi to kept asking question is this ok? is this normal? will she choke on her hand if she puts it all in her mouth? why is she sleeping so much? etc… then at one point while he was rocking vivi in the hospital glider in the corner staring down at her he relaxed and you could see a release. he took a deep shaky breath and said “thank god” in an almost in-audible whisper and tears dripped down his face. the love i have for tim quadrupled in that moment. (and now i am sure he is so happy with me that i told that story, but it is too beautiful not to tell, and remember hunny i said my love quadrupled, that 4x it grew!)
neither of us were really worried about vivi having PCH2. if she had it she had it. if she had it she was supposed to have it. and we could handle it we would get through it. Isla is awesome so there was no reason to worry. but to have a weight taken off your chest that you didnt even know was there was an amazing feeling.
fast forward to Vivis 2 week appointment the doctor came in the room looked at us and said Vivi’s PKU testing came back with some abnormal numbers. he then followed it up with i am so sorry, out of anyone this can happen to i wish it wasnt you guys. He told us that he saw nothing wrong with her thought she looked excellent and that this was probably just a flub and we were going to re-test and he thought it would all be cleared up. he didnt tell us much about what was testing abnormal just that it could be controlled and she could live a happy normal life. we said ok we can handle that. and went on our way.
she got re-tested and the results came back 2 weeks later. the doctor called me. her numbers were still abnormal. the were on the border of normal/abnormal. he still was not worried about it. he saw no signs from her. he said lets wait a few months and then re-do the test again when she was 3 months old. i asked him a little more about the disorder and what signs we should look for. he answered my questions and told me that there was nothing i needed to look for. cause i wouldnt find it since he still said that nothing was wrong. he believed that.
the test she was giving abnormal numbers for was acylcarnitine profile. which is a fatty acid processing disorder called carnitine uptake/transport deficiency or CUD. basically she had a low count of free carnitine compound numbers in her blood. when a baby has fatty acid disorders they are unable to use fat for energy. so if a baby doesnt eat for a while. sleeps a really long time or gets sick and isnt able to eat their body would not be able to use stored fat for energy, like we are. so basically if vivi did have this we would need to make sure she ate a very low fat diet and ate every 3-4 hours no matter what. if her glucose levels became low then she would get sick really really fast. could get really really lethargic, have trouble waking them up, trouble breathing, and even serious seizures. if she got sick with a simple cold, an ear infection, or a virus she would have to be admitted to the hospital for monitoring since more than likely she wouldnt be eating as much. a stomach virus would be our worst enemy and could cause a serious issue. but it all could be controlled with special diets and monitoring.
so we chose not to worry about it at all. especially since we have such a high regard for and fully trust the girls pediatrician. he told us he thought it was nothing and she was fine. so we did too.
Well… today we got the call from the doctor. her results were back from her 4th round of bloodwork…NORMAL!!!! all is normal. Praise the Lord!
there was no lifting of a weight off of my chest this time. because there was truly no weight on my chest. which realizing that is such an awesome feeling. i had full trust and faith in the Lord. it was nice to have the affirmation and to not have that rattling around in the back of your mind.
with children its always going to be something. with anything there is always going to be something. with isla, PCH, and now this CUD scare it has taught me to fully put my trust in the Lord. He has it all under control.
rainy day tactile/sensory activity…
super simple and fun for your child! perfect for a rainy day because it includes lights! so you have more contrast if its darker outside and in the house.
foam soap and christmas lights.
or in our case…
flamingo lights!
all you do is tape lights to the underside of a clear storage tub and put some foam soap on top and let your kids go to town! or if you have a light box thats even better! a clear storage tub with lid and christmas lights inside makes a great home-made light box!
this is a great activity for tactile input and sensory awareness. isla loves lights and foam soap. older kids can draw designs in the foam soap. you can also use shaving cream. foam soap comes in fun colors. isla has purple, pink, and orange foam soap. i also think that foam soap is easier to clean up!
have fun!!!
…and a big thanks to isla OT for the idea!
Islas Therapy Room Tour!
know that every room should be designed and planned with your child in mind. islas has a lot going on. she does not get overwhelmed with too much. she loves looking and exploring. she loves sensory and tactile input. she loves nature; birds, flowers, trees, etc… her room is also planned with the future and goals in mind. the room will be able to adapt to her and her changing needs.
this room would not be possible with out the love and support of our family. for those of you who helped out with time, brute strength, and monetary donations, we thank you soooooo much from the bottom of our hearts. we feel so blessed to be able to give this room to our daughter. it has and continues to help her so much! thank you.
To answer your questions…
ok so i’ve been hoarding a few messages…There are quite a few questions and comments and im going to answer them all in one post! so read on if youve sent a message to me recently or if you want to hear from some other awesome ladies!!
i have never researched the best doctor for pch…. that being said we love our neuro! isla love him and he loves her! he works with us. is easy to contact. will answer any question anytime of the day no matter how small. he is for isla. he never puts limits on her ever. he believes she can accomplish anything just like we do! i truly think that is the most important in a doctor. there is no way to cure pch. there is no way for anyone to guess how far your child will progress. so having a doctor that is truly for your child, in my opinion is a ton more important than a doctor with lots of awards or degrees from the best med schools.
Oh my…
Someone send help. Isla didn’t sleep at all last night. And now she is whiney and fussy and it’s causing Vivi to fuss. Lord help me!
ok i am a lousy blogger person….
i was in the middle, wait, no not the middle, about two minutes from done with a post answering all of your blog messages and emails…that i spent so long on.
and then i somehow lost the post…. and it wont let me retrieve it. i will get to them tonight after my teething baby who wont let me put her down goes to sleep. also it looks like its one of her top teeth coming through…weird.
so so sorry for all of you wonderful ladies waiting for a reply.
but you all know how it is right?
I laid isla down for a nap and then 1 minute later this is what i heard and found…
